To be Fond
by Adeadlymusician
Summary: Fond was not a word that Tabitha expected to use in regards to his life post Team Magma. Receiving a jail sentence for trying to destroy the world kind of ruins one's chance at a decent life. But here he was with Shelly and their adopted daughter by his side. And he wouldn't change it for a thing.


**So... I really pride myself on diversity. I like most ships regardless of the biological sex and/or gender identity of the participants. But I've only ever published slash. Today, that changes. I've got a few more straight ships in the works, but I have no idea when they will be out (Yay college).**

 **(Also, I have only a vague idea how the legal process works when it comes to child abuse/endangerment. Please roll with me here.)**

 **I'm not really satisfied with how this turned out so I might go back and change some details later.**

* * *

The lights of the gym illuminated the battlefield. Shelly watched with a small smile as Robin grinned, bouncing back and forth with nervous energy; It was the day of her first gym battle, and the young girl couldn't be blamed for her energy and excitement. It reminded Shelly of herself, of when she received her first pokemon. She could distinctly remember the raw, unadulterated energy that she had when she had caught a wild Corphish outside her childhood home, a pokemon that remained by her side (now as a rowdy Crawdaunt) to this day.

"What are you thinking about?" A voice asked, taking her out of her thoughts. It was a voice she knew well. Shelly smiled.

"Nothing in particular. Just remembering what I was like at her age…" She said, glancing at the source of the voice; Tabitha, her husband. The man smirked and took a seat next to her, holding out a bottle of water. She graciously accepted the bottle and unscrewed the lid, taking a small sip.

"Like mother, like daughter," Tabitha remarked, watching the young girl explode with nervous energy. This entire situation simultaneously felt normal and unbelievable. After serving a couple of years in jail for his actions as one of the admins of Team Magma, Tabitha never dreamed of having anywhere close to a normal life. Everyone in Hoenn knew who he was and hated him, no matter how hard he wanted to prove that he changed. Everyone. He couldn't go anywhere in public without being subjected to scathing and scornful remarks. He couldn't get a job that provided a living wage. He couldn't even find a place to live; He had to live inside a secret base filled with dirt and dust that aggravated his allergies.

Shelly hadn't fared much better. Tabitha had run into her at Mauville City's market after about 2 months of living on his own. The former Team Aqua admin was living with her parents while she tried to get back on her feet and had helped run a local contest hall by acting as an usher. Despite the initial awkwardness, the two had found common ground. It turns out that they were the only ones still in Hoenn. Matt had scampered off to Sinnoh, Courtney had gone to explore Unova, and Maxie and Archie both went to Alola. Together. While Shelly had appeared surprised by the revelation, Tabitha was not. While he did not know of the exact history between the two former leaders, he knew that they were close at one point in their lives and he knew that it was a long time coming if the stares Maxie gave the model ship in his room were any indication.

Life had gotten easier, eventually. Tabitha and Shelly met up occasionally to eat and catch up. One day, Wattson had witnessed Tabitha aiding a young trainer calm his electric pokemon down and decided to hire him as a gym aid. Shelly continued her work in the contest hall, content with where she was. She even started to offer her advice to young contestants, giving them pointers on how to not only train their pokemon but to train themselves. The jobs weren't something that either of them had expected, but it was a start, at least.

After what seemed like years (but in reality was closer to eight slow months), the two had decided to try dating. Neither of them were really interested in the typical romantic things like candlelit dinners and sex but they had chemistry and it wouldn't hurt for them to try.

It was… different. Often times they would tag along to each other's jobs or simply sit on the couch together watching TV. But they were content. (It's not like either of them could really afford lavish dinner dates, anyways. Having a criminal record for a petty crime was one thing: Having a criminal record for trying to destroy the world was entirely another).

It was when Tabitha was sitting under the stars with his head on Shelly's lap did he realize that he was in love. There wasn't anything really spectacular about that night; Stargazing was a past time that the couple had discovered together. He pondered for a moment before it hit him that nothing had changed. There wasn't any fireworks or sparkles. He was in love with Shelly, and that was it. He had only wondered for a couple of days if she loved him back as she proposed to him outright. Tabitha accepted. Neither of them had enough money for rings at the time, but that was a bridge that they would burn later.

They didn't marry in a church. Not only was a church wedding ridiculously expensive but neither party had any religious views. It was a short, quick, and private ceremony. Only former members of the team and Shelly's parents were invited.

The issue of children was one of the first they discussed as a formally married couple. Tabitha didn't really want kids. It's not as if Tabitha hated kids; it was quite the opposite. Tabitha couldn't deny a smile when he saw a small child frolicking in a field of flowers. But after growing up in an orphanage, he knew just how cruel and despicable they could be. Shelly was indifferent to the idea altogether as she was an only child. They eventually agreed to wait on the decision since they were both fairly young and new to marriage.

Of course, Arceus couldn't leave well enough alone. Tabitha (and thus Shelly's) life changed one winter night as he walked home, exhausted from a day at the gym. The night sky was clear but the air was icy and savage. When he looked ahead, he noticed a lone figure in the distance. Curious, he moved forward. The figure had turned out to be a small girl, no older than six years old, on the side of the road clutching a Pikachu doll. She was dressed solely in pajamas and was shivering madly in the cold conditions. Tabitha had quickly dragged the girl into his home, wrapping her up with the blanket from his bed. The poor girl hadn't said anything and didn't respond to any of his attempts to start a conversation. Seeing as she wasn't going to talk, he let her sleep in his bed while he slept in one of the chairs. The next day, he had gone to the police station and informed them of what had happened. The police had not believed him at first given his record. However, after they had searched public records, it was found that the girl had been reported missing after running away from an abusive household. Her parents were already on trial facing first-degree felony charges with a minimum jail sentence of 10 years.

With that, the girl was then to be taken away into protective custody, and pending the results of the trial, foster care. Tabitha, however, knew how bad the foster care system was and immediately offered to adopt her if she became eligible. The receptionist informed him that he would find a difficult road ahead of him considering that he had a criminal record. He couldn't forget the look of sadness on the girl's face as she was lead away by the protective services.

He brought up the matter with Shelly the next morning. She contemplated for a moment before slamming her drink down and demanding that they go ahead and try. It wouldn't hurt, right?

"Earth to Tabitha! Hello!" Shelly said, waving her hand around. Tabitha shook himself out of his reverie. Shelly laughed.

"The battle started several minutes ago. Were you even paying attention?" She asked, smirking. Tabitha blushed slightly, growling slightly.

"Of course I was, honey," He replied, knowing the pet name would irritate his wife. Shelly glared but didn't reply. Robin's loud and shrill voice drew his attention to the battle in front of him. Roxanne was already down to her last pokemon. Tabitha smiled. Sitting in a gym watching his daughter's first pokemon battle was not the immediate thought on his mind after he was released from prison. But he wouldn't change it for the world.

* * *

 **Fun Fact: Tabitha/Shelly was one of my first ever ships (the first of which is Maxie/Archie).**

 **Also: Straight couples don't have to have biological children. Adoption exists. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.**

 **I also know that Tabitha nor Shelly would be able to adopt given their criminal history in real life. But this is Pokemon and the rules of our world don't necessarily apply.**

 _ **To those whom are a part of the group of hazing cyberbullies: I am an English minor. I am friends with English majors. I know how to write stories and use proper punctuation. While a mistake might slip here and there, the dialogue tags and punctuation used in the quotation marks are correct. Thank you and have a nice day.**_


End file.
